Last Updated on: 27th January 2022, 10:19 pm
Remember when we talked about Anton’s next play? Well, the shoe thief and I went to take it in. Steve couldn’t go with us, and it’s too bad he couldn’t make it. He would have had fun.
As always, there is more to our story than just going to see the play. There is a big ol’ adventure. So here we go. I showed up to catch the train. The shoe thief was coming separately. I walked up to the counter, and the girl looked at me and said, “Um, the entire line of trains has been shut down, the signaling system that allows us to talk to engineers is messed up, so we’re sending a bus to pick passengers up and take them to London.” I said ok, and I wasn’t worried. I got there plenty early, and as long as we set off by 12:15 or 12:30, we would be fine. I mean, we gave ourselves nearly an hour for just such an occasion. So I sat. The shoe thief showed up, and I told him the news. He was a bit worried.
Then I started hearing bad things. “Um, the bus is coming from Toronto, and the Gardiner and the Don Valley are shut down.” “We don’t know when the bus will reach here.” Then, one of the cabs coming to pick some people up got rear-ended. When does that happen? I started to really worry. This appeared to be the only time when I would be able to see Anton’s play, because next weekend looked pretty full. It was getting closer to 1 o’clock, and I was starting to doubt we would make it.
Next I saw people who were going to Windsor and Chatham being put in cabs. I said to the shoe thief that the place didn’t look too full, why can’t they put more of us in cabs? I did not want to give up until the last second on our chances to go. I guess the girl behind the counter heard me saying these things, and because she was having to miss something of hers as a result of this whole mess, she felt sorry for us, and threw us in a cab that took us directly to Anton’s play! Thank you Via girl, we love ya, love ya much!
The cab took off at 1:00 or so, and by some miracle, we arrived plenty early. We almost got dropped off at the hospital next door, oopsy, but the guy managed to find the CNIB building. Another girl who lives around there says there’s also a CIBC on the same street, and often people get deposited there by mistake when they ask for CNIB. Wouldn’t that have been a kick in the pants? We work so hard to get there, and then get left somewhere totally not where we want to be? But we had an awesome driver who started this whole ride off by telling us how he remembered an incident where another cab driver had dropped me off at the wrong grocery store once, so I guess he wanted to get it right.
When we first arrived, I think we scared the poor women who were running the desk at CNIB. They couldn’t figure out why on earth we would show up for the play 55 minutes early! When we said we came from out of town, they suddenly understood.
But their freak out was not over. I asked if they had a designated guide dog-relieving area at CNIB, since it was the CNIB after all, and lots of people might bring guide dogs there. Their immediate reaction was, “Um, er, it would have to be outside!” Well yeah. I just wondered if you had a zone in mind. I’ll take that as a no. Then they started to direct me by feverishly pointing, and then hoping against hope that the shoe thief had some vision so he could see where they were feverishly pointing.
I should cut them some slack, though, since I guess they were part of Out Of Sight Productions, and they didn’t work for CNIB, and they’re kinda new to this whole blind guy thing. All ended well, and Trix got business taken care of, and we settled down to wait for the play.
Then, I got to do to another blink what other blinks, and everybody to some degree, does to me, but it’s really freaky when it’s another blind person because you get to wondering just how unique your voice, or laugh, or something about you is. A girl walked in and said she was working for CNIB that day. As she talked, I realized that she had performed at the last one of these we came to see. So, I said to her. “I think I know you.” I said her name, and her brain flew into the fast “oh my god who is this oh my god who is this oh my god who is this?” mode that I know so well. I didn’t leave her there for long. I said who I was, and how I knew her, and she laughed and remembered me. She said she wasn’t in this play, but we got talking about it. It was good times.
Now, the play! First off, I wasn’t quite sure what to expect from this one. It was described as an old radio play, so I assumed you wouldn’t see any movement. It would all be sound. But Anton had mentioned that you would be able to see people moving. Huh? So it’s a radio play, but it isn’t a radio play?
The shoe thief and I sat down in the front row, and Trix lay under my chair, but I let her sort of stretch out a bit more than I usually do because we were in the front row and the place didn’t feel too full. But that soon had to change when I realized just how close to me members of the cast were moving during the play, and I got to thinking that some of these people can’t see too well! We didn’t need a little immprov added into the mix involving a cast member falling over a yiping dog! Granted that would test the skills of all involved, but no thanks.
I think we wrote about the premise of the play. It was all about the power of belief, and if enough people believe in something, that power of belief could make it come true. The narrator of the whole play, the one who wove the entire story together, was the mysterious traveler, played by the one and only Anton! That’s right! And he had the perfect voice for the part. I guess he looked pretty cool too, dressed in a suit and tophat like back in the 40’s. People were joking with him after the play that he needed to wear that hat more often.
You know, if I didn’t know him, I would have found him downright spooky. But because I knew him, I had to stifle laughter when he told us that he wanted to thrill and chill us with this story. I really don’t think Anton could have done it any better, it’s just that I know him. He’s Anton!
Let’s talk a minute about the sound effects. For the most part, they were damn cool. Because everything was happening all around us, I really felt like I was in the action. When a shot was fired, I actually kinda braced my legs around Trixie before the bang in case she moved in a weird way. When glass broke, I again wanted to hold her still to protect her, even though my head kept telling me “you moron, that glass is nowhere near her, nor will it ever be, if there’s even glass on the floor.” But everything was so close to me that it felt pretty neat. They said they always worry about what any guide dogs in the audience may do during some of the scenes, but Trix only picked up her head and looked around when the one girl screamed at the end. Go Trix.
There were only two things that bugged me. Whenever someone would knock on the door, it would come from the left, but the door was on the right! Um, erm, why? Maybe it was uber noticeable to me because the person doing the knocking was making the effect really near me. Also, when they cut to a scene in the newsroom, they were trying to simulate the sounds of typing…with…braillers! Yes, braillers! And again, the person doing the brailling was really close to me. It was hard to restrain the overwhelming urge to get up, and ask the person why in blazes s/he was making so much racket that I couldn’t hear the play’s lines. Was s/he trying to write the lines down for posterity or something? I admire the effort, but the effect did not work for me. Maybe it’s because I know what a typewriter sounds like and I know what a brailler sounds like. Ah but it’s a small production, what are ya gonna do?
The play was over in about 35 minutes. After all the hell we went through getting there, it was kinda funny. But I wouldn’t have missed it for the world.
After Anton hobnobbed with his fans for a while, he went and got changed and a bunch of us set off for Crabby Joe’s again. Sadly, the infamous “yes please burger” was not listed on the menu! But we had lots of food and fun.
Then our party group got smaller, and Anton, the shoe thief and I set off for his house, and then we were going to head for Dairy Queen. But we couldn’t even make it to his house without yet another adventure. He called a cab, and 3 cabs from 3 different companies all happened to pull up at once, and two of the drivers started fighting over who was going to take us! Seriously! I thought there was going to be blows! One guy yelled “You always scoop my fares!” Luckily, driver no. 3 was the one we actually called, so neither of the other guys got scooped.
The rest of the night was pretty low-key, but fun was had by all, including Trixie, who seemed to remember Anton’s little apartment pretty well. We got up just as early as the last time we did this whirlwind o fun, and headed back here, and yes, this time, we were on the train!
I do have one question for anyone who might know the answer. Why, on a 7:55 a.m. train, would there not be more breakfast-like foods available on the over-priced food cart that zooms around? I mean, I was in the front, and by the time the cart got to me, all they had left were a few bagels, some weird-sounding sandwiches, and one muffin. One! I chose a bagel, but there weren’t a lot of choices. It’s a brand new day. Who ate all the food in the night? Ah well, at least the train got me home. We were a little late, but my home will still be there, even if I take an extra hour to get there.
So, that was the shoe thief and my crazy adventure. It wasn’t the same without Steve, but hopefully, the next time we see one of these things, Steve can come with us.
But I got to thinking. Maybe there was a message in the fact that we had such an adventure getting to the play. It was looking like we weren’t going to make it, but we believed…and the impossible happened! We got there, with time to spare. Did our belief that it would happen make it come true? Oooo, there’s a question for the mysterious traveler.